Aurelia Butler

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    Musk and His Millions Enter Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

    Elon Musk’s super PAC has spent $1 million on canvassing operations supporting the conservative candidate in the race, his first election spending after the 2024 campaign.Elon Musk’s super PAC is back.Mr. Musk, the country’s largest donor during the 2024 election, is returning to campaigns by funding a new effort to help elect Brad Schimel, the conservative candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It is Mr. Musk’s first public political spending after Election Day.America PAC spent $1 million on canvassing operations in the state, according to a new campaign finance filing that became public Thursday. Pamphlets distributed to some Wisconsin homes read, “President Trump needs you to get out and vote,” and included a link to a website where voters could register to vote and learn about how to cast ballots early.A nonprofit organization that has historically been backed by Mr. Musk, Building America’s Future, this week began a $1.6 million-and-counting television campaign to bolster Judge Schimel, a former state attorney general who is now a judge in Waukesha County. But that group has other major donors and is not as directly tied to Mr. Musk as is America PAC, which is funded almost entirely by the billionaire.Wisconsin Supreme Court elections are officially nonpartisan, but Judge Schimel has been endorsed by the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which is allowed by state campaign finance law to transfer unlimited sums to his campaign. The liberal candidate, Susan Crawford, has been endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Judge Crawford sits on a court in Dane County, Wisconsin’s most Democratic county, which includes Madison.The April 1 election for a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court carries higher stakes than any election this year until the November contests for governor of New Jersey and Virginia. There is now a four-to-three liberal majority on the court, but Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, a liberal who has sat on the court since 1995, is retiring, putting the court’s majority on the ballot.The state’s abortion laws, as well as its legislative and congressional district lines, are likely to be determined by whichever faction controls the state high court in coming months.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    in Elections

    Read the Letter From Fani T. Willis to Representative Jim Jordan

    OFFICE OF THE FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
    ATLANTA JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
    136 PRYOR STREET SW, 3RD FLOOR
    ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303
    Fani T. Willis
    District Attorney
    Congressman Jim Jordan
    Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary
    United States House of Representatives
    2138 Rayburn House Office Building
    Washington, DC 20515
    February 20, 2025
    Dear Mr. Jordan:
    Yet again, I am writing to you in my official capacity as District Attorney of Fulton County and on
    behalf of my office regarding requests made by the House Judiciary Committee (‘Committee’) to
    several Fulton County employees, asking for documents and testimony relating to their work for
    the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office (‘FCDA’ or ‘Office’).’
    Over the course of several years now, I have explained to you that the core of your requests—
    information about an active criminal investigation-threatens the integrity of an ongoing criminal
    matter, ignores centuries of precedent about the limits of Congressional power, and tramples over
    foundational principles of state sovereignty and federalism.²
    Let us speak plainly, Mr. Jordan. Your so-called ‘investigation’ into the Office’s contacts with the
    House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has
    never been anything more than a dangerous attempt, performed at the behest of those under
    1 Letter from Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary, to Ms. Trina Swanson-Lucas, Assistant Chief
    Investigator, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off. (Feb. 6, 2025); Letter from Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the
    Judiciary, to Mr. Michael Hill, Assistant Chief Investigator, Major Crimes Div., Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off. (Feb. 6,
    2025); Letter from Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary, to Mr. Will Wooten, Deputy Dist. Att’y,
    Major Crimes Div., Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off. (Feb. 6, 2025); Letter from Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm.
    on the Judiciary, to Mr. Donald Wakeford, Chief Senior Dist. Att’y, Anti-Corruption Div., Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y
    Off. (Feb. 6, 2025).
    2 See, e.g., Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H.
    Comm. on the Judiciary (Sept. 7, 2023); Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep.
    Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Oct. 11, 2023); Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty.
    Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Dec. 19, 2023); Letter from Dist. Att’y
    Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Jan. 26,
    2024); Letter from Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman,
    H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Oct. 11, 2024); Letter from Dist. Att’y Fani T. Willis, Fulton Cty. Dist. Att’y Off., to
    Rep. Jim Jordan, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary (Dec. 12, 2024).
    1 More

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    Multiple Bus Explosions in Israel Put Country on Terrorism Alert

    The attempted attacks on Thursday, which injured no one but shut down buses and trains across the country, came amid Israel’s ongoing raids in the West Bank and as its cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza nears its end.Three buses exploded in Tel Aviv area parking lots on Thursday night, raising suspicions of an attempted, coordinated terrorist attack and prompting the Israeli authorities to halt all buses and trains nationwide. There were no injuries reported.After the explosions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that he had instructed the military to carry out “a massive operation” in the West Bank targeting militant hubs and had ordered the police and intelligence forces to step up preventive measures in Israeli cities to thwart any subsequent attempted attacks.The three buses were parked at different depots in Bat Yam, a city south of Tel Aviv, Tzvika Brot, the city’s mayor, said in a statement. Unexploded bombs were also found in parking lots in the nearby city of Holon, the mayor noted.Mr. Brot said he had ordered additional security patrols throughout Bat Yam. “The city will remain on high alert throughout the weekend,” he added. “However, the city’s routine continues as usual. There is no change to school tomorrow or any other activities.”Ofir Karni, director of the Dan bus company, told Israeli news media that the last passenger on one of the buses that exploded had noticed a suspicious bag on a back seat and had alerted the driver. They drove into the depot, got off the bus and it exploded after they exited, he added.The series of explosions in central Israel came on what was already a difficult day for Israelis and for the country’s tenuous truce with Hamas.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    in European Politics

    German election: why most political parties aren’t talking about the climate crisis

    After months of wrangling over public debt and spending decisions, the German government collapsed in November 2024. Among the many disagreements between the parties which made up the governing coalition was how to pay for measures to combat climate change.

    Seeking to take advantage of disillusioned voters (who in recent years showed record support for the Greens), populist parties have since cast doubt on the idea of tackling environmental issues at all.

    Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), for example, the rightwing party which denies the existence of man-made climate change, has raised concerns about energy security and the economic cost of green alternatives.

    If the AfD’s broader aim was to take green issues off the political agenda, the plan appears to be working. In the run-up to the general election on February 23 2025, migration and the economy are the most important issues for voters (each on 34%), with climate change lagging far behind (13%).

    Nor has the environment been a priority in the parties’ election campaigns. In the first TV debate between the chancellor, the social democrat Olaf Scholz, and his most likely successor, the conservative Friedrich Merz, the topic was ignored almost entirely. A lack of political will and fear of losing voters appear to have relegated environmental policies to the sidelines.

    Others want it back at the top of the agenda. Germany’s foreign intelligence service, for example, describes the climate crisis as one of the major risks facing the country, alongside terrorism and war.

    Business associations have urged the next government to address climate change mitigation for the sake of German jobs. The Federation of German Industries has demanded an increase in public spending on climate change of as much as €70 billion (£58 billion). Younger voters have called for a nationwide protest to bring the subject back into politicians’ minds.

    So have German voters really become sceptical about dealing with climate change?
    In a recent study, we found that people who planned to vote for the AfD and the leftwing populist BSW party are indeed sceptical of the need for far-reaching climate policies.

    Among voters of these two parties, only 23% (AfD) and 41% (BSW) think that an energy transition is necessary to achieve national climate goals. For Green party voters that figure is 93%, and for SDP supporters it’s 83%.

    Voters across the political spectrum have different priorities when it comes to energy supply. For populist party supporters, energy costs trump everything, with only 12% of AfD and 20% of BSW voters considering low emissions important.

    These voters are also less likely to assume the energy transition would have positive effects on jobs, and are more likely to fear rising energy costs and security of supply. In short, they are afraid of the social and economic consequences of the energy transition. It is this fear that the far right appears to have been able to mobilise.

    Climate costs

    Our results are backed up by other research which shows that poorer voters are concerned about the potential costs associated with net zero ambitions.

    There is also uncertainty about the possible effects on employment. Many people in Germany believe there will be job losses in their local community as a result of the transition to green energy, and 25% worry they will lose their job.

    Climate change protest in Berlin in 2024.
    D Busquets/Shutterstock

    While these results may seem gloomy, we also found majority support – even among AfD voters – for climate change policies where communities benefit financially from local renewable energy projects, and where citizens feel they have more of a voice in how the energy transition comes into effect.

    People want to be heard and participate in a potential transformation. Previous research in psychology has shown that participating in processes and a perception of fairness can increase acceptance.

    Research also shows that people fear the effects of climate policies on their personal finances, and that these perceived costs inhibit environmentally friendly behaviour.

    But the climate crisis won’t go away, no matter who governs Germany in the coming years. More “once-in-a-century” floods and droughts will hit the nation and bring the climate crisis back to the top of the political agenda.

    When this happens, politicians need to ensure they have a positive and credible vision of the future ready to present to voters – where the costs are shared fairly. This will make it harder for populist parties to play on economic worries, and easier to persuade German voters to prioritise the climate crisis. More

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    in Elections

    Elon Musk Is Focused on DOGE. What About Tesla?

    Mr. Musk, one of President Trump’s main advisers, has not outlined a plan to reverse falling sales at the electric car company of which he is chief executive.Elon Musk’s role as President Trump’s cost-cutting czar and his immersion in right-wing politics appears to be diverting his attention from Tesla at a perilous moment for the electric car company.Tesla’s car sales fell 1 percent last year even as the global market for electric vehicles grew 25 percent. Mr. Musk has not addressed that underperformance, and he has offered no concrete plan to revive sales. He has also provided no details about a more affordable model Tesla says it will start producing this year. In the past, Mr. Musk spent months or years promoting vehicles before they appeared in showrooms.And he has spent much of his time since the election in Washington and at Mr. Trump’s home in Florida — far from Austin, Texas, where Tesla has its corporate headquarters and a factory, or the San Francisco Bay Area, where it has a factory and engineering offices.In the past decade or so, Tesla went from a struggling start-up to upending the global auto industry. The company sold millions of electric cars and generated huge profits, forcing established automakers to invest billions of dollars to catch up. Tesla’s success has been reflected in its soaring stock price, which helped make Mr. Musk the world’s richest person.But now, he seems to have lost interest in the grinding business of developing, producing and selling cars, investors and analysts say. That could have serious ramifications for his company and the auto industry, which employs millions of people worldwide.Even before he joined the Trump administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Mr. Musk’s running multiple companies had led investors and corporate governance experts to wonder whether he was spread too thin. Besides Tesla, Mr. Musk controls and runs SpaceX, whose rockets carry astronauts and satellites for NASA and others; X, the social media site; and xAI, which is developing artificial intelligence. And he wants to colonize Mars.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A.I. Is Changing How Silicon Valley Builds Start-Ups

    Tech start-ups typically raised huge sums to hire armies of workers and grow fast. Now artificial intelligence tools are making workers more productive and spurring tales of “tiny team” success.Almost every day, Grant Lee, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, hears from investors who try to persuade him to take their money. Some have even sent him and his co-founders personalized gift baskets.Mr. Lee, 41, would normally be flattered. In the past, a fast-growing start-up like Gamma, the artificial intelligence start-up he helped establish in 2020, would have constantly looked out for more funding.But like many young start-ups in Silicon Valley today, Gamma is pursuing a different strategy. It is using artificial intelligence tools to increase its employees’ productivity in everything from customer service and marketing to coding and customer research.That means Gamma, which makes software that lets people create presentations and websites, has no need for more cash, Mr. Lee said. His company has hired only 28 people to get “tens of millions” in annual recurring revenue and nearly 50 million users. Gamma is also profitable.“If we were from the generation before, we would easily be at 200 employees,” Mr. Lee said. “We get a chance to rethink that, basically rewrite the playbook.”The old Silicon Valley model dictated that start-ups should raise a huge sum of money from venture capital investors and spend it hiring an army of employees to scale up fast. Profits would come much later. Until then, head count and fund-raising were badges of honor among founders, who philosophized that bigger was better.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A.I. Is Prompting an Evolution, Not an Extinction, for Coders

    A.I. tools from Microsoft and other companies are helping write code, placing software engineers at the forefront of the technology’s potential to disrupt the work force.John Giorgi uses artificial intelligence to make artificial intelligence.The 29-year-old computer scientist creates software for a health care start-up that records and summarizes patient visits for doctors, freeing them from hours spent typing up clinical notes.To do so, Mr. Giorgi has his own timesaving helper: an A.I. coding assistant. He taps a few keys and the software tool suggests the rest of the line of code. It can also recommend changes, fetch data, identify bugs and run basic tests. Even though the A.I. makes some mistakes, it saves him up to an hour many days.“I can’t imagine working without it now,” Mr. Giorgi said.That sentiment is increasingly common among software developers, who are at the forefront of adopting A.I. agents, assistant programs tailored to help employees do their jobs in fields including customer service and manufacturing. The rapid improvement of the technology has been accompanied by dire warnings that A.I. could soon automate away millions of jobs — and software developers have been singled out as prime targets.But the outlook for software developers is more likely evolution than extinction, according to experienced software engineers, industry analysts and academics. For decades, better tools have automated some coding tasks, but the demand for software and the people who make it has only increased.A.I., they say, will accelerate that trend and level up the art and craft of software design.“The skills software developers need will change significantly, but A.I. will not eliminate the need for them,” said Arnal Dayaratna, an analyst at IDC, a technology research firm. “Not anytime soon anyway.”The outlook for software engineers offers a window into the impact that generative A.I. — the kind behind chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT — is likely to have on knowledge workers across the economy, from doctors and lawyers to marketing managers and financial analysts. Predictions about the technology’s consequences vary widely, from wiping out whole swaths of the work force to hyper-charging productivity as an elixir for economic growth.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    What to Know About the Saudi Crown Prince’s Role in Global Diplomacy

    The kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was once shunned in diplomatic circles. Now he is playing an important role in negotiations over Gaza and Ukraine.Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has long angled to play a leading role on the world stage, was at the diplomatic center this week of two of the globe’s most pressing crises.On Monday, Prince Mohammed met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to discuss both the future of Gaza and the Ukraine war. The following day in Riyadh, there were friendly talks between Russia and the United States.And on Friday, the kingdom is expected to host Arab officials to plan for the reconstruction of Gaza.That Saudi Arabia is the setting for talks with such monumental stakes stands as further evidence that the crown prince — known by his initials M.B.S. — is well on his way to achieving his goal of becoming a global power player.The meetings represent a remarkable turnabout for Prince Mohammed, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom’s de facto leader who was shunned for a time in diplomatic circles. He was accused of severe human rights abuses that he has denied, including approving the killing in 2018 of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident.Here is what to know about the crown prince’s past actions and his plans for Saudi Arabia.A new vision for the kingdomIn 2016, about a year after his father, King Salman, ascended the throne, Prince Mohammed, then a deputy crown prince, introduced Vision 2030. The bold plan aimed to diversify the kingdom’s economy and make it less reliant on oil. It included increasing the number of Saudis in private employment, including women; soliciting foreign investment; and selling shares of Saudi Aramco, the state oil monopoly, to raise capital to invest in other sectors, like tourism.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More